Code-transposing apparatus for telegraph systems



D. MURRAY.

CODE TRANSPOSlNG APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS. APPLICATION FILED JAN.20, 1919.

1,394,439. Patented Oct. 18, 1921,

3 SHEETSSHEET Inventor. i 2?, Ed @Wurmay, 29 w vb wama/ wwm/ D. MURRAY.CODE TRANSPOSING APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20,1919.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.,

3 SHEETS-SHEEI 2 3 35 BEE? 55 Invienfon lionald Murray,

D. MURRAY.

CODE TRANSPOSXNG APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. I919.

2% 1 t I A @m u W6 3. n m I dm m l i UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

TO THE WESTERN UNION TELE- OF NEW YORK.

CODE-TRANSPOSING APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPH SYSTEMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

Application filed January 20, 1919. Serial No. 272,140.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L.,1318.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD MURRAY, a subject of the Kin of GreatBritain, residing at London, ngland, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Code-Transposing Apparatus for Telegraph Systems(for which I have filed application in England August 22, 1917, PatentNo.

116,195), of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for automatically transposingsignals or messages from one code into another and is priprintingtelegraph systems.

In the operation of machine telegraphy or printing telegra h systems onland lines, the well-known ve-unit code has provedits superiority overother signal codes and is displacing the use of the Morse code; but inthe operation-of long ocean cables the Morse code has held its own,although there are indications that the three-unit cable code may beused on cables more largely in the future.

As in many instances long ocean cables are Worked in conjunction withconsiderable lengths of land line, it is desirable to have machines atthe cable stations for transposing messages automatically from one codeinto the other, particularly from the five-unit into the cable-Morsecode or the three-unit code, and vice versa. There are also some otherinstances in which automatic transposition of one telegraph code intoanother is desirable, such for instance as the Baudot arrangement of thefive-unit code into the Murray and Western Union arrangement of thefive-unit code and vice versa.

The object of this invention is to supply such. a machine in a simpleand compact marily intended for use in connection with form. A telegraphprinting machine, preferably of the typebar variety, adapted forprinting messages in Roman type by means of the five-unit code may bearranged by replacing the typewriter or printing part by a keyboardfierforator adapted to produce, say, cableorse tape, the leversor keysof the five-unit selector mechanism of the telegraph printer being thenconnected by wires or hooks to the keys of the keyboard perforatormechanism. With necessary modifications of detail, any telegraphprinting mechcostly and cumbersome.

anism employing any telegraph code can be used in this Way to operate akeyboard perforator or other mechanism employing a different telegraphcode. The conjunction of two machines in this way, however, is Themechanism which I have invented condenses and combines the essentialparts of the two machines into one compact mechanism. For the purpose ofillustrating the invention, I have shown a machine arranged for thetransposition of the five-unit into the cable- Morse code.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same Fig. 3 shows the intermediatelink connections between the combs and the tape punching mechanism;

Fig. at is a detail of the letter and figureshift comb;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail of the link connections shown in Fig. 3;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show details of two devices for restoring the combs tozero position;

Fig. 9 is an enlar ed detail plan view showmg a portion of ig. 1,embodying the comb restoring mechanism; and

Fig. 10 is a view of the same parts shown in Fig. 9 with a modifiedarrangement of the tape feeding device.

The selecting mechanism now generally adopted in telegraph printersconsists of a group of permutation-bars or combs, one comb beingprovided for each element or unit of a letter signal. Instead ofpermutation bars or combs, permutation disks are sometimes employed. Theprinciple and action remain the same, and the only change is in themechanical form 'necessitated by the circular instead of straight linearrangement. For purposes of illustration, I have shown the bar form,but it to be understood that this-invention applies equally to eitherthe bar or the disk form. In the fiveunit code five combs or five disksare needed, and in cable-Morse twelve combs or twelve disks arerequired, while in the three-unit cable code six combs or six disks areemployed. By cable-Morse is meant the Morse code used on long oceancables employing positive, negative and zero dots or units in place ofthe ordinary Morse dots and dashes.

1 shall describe the invention as applied to the task of transposingfive-unit signals into cable-Morse signals.

In this invention I employ two groups of combs A and B arranged side byside on a common bedplate 1, attached by screws 2 to the frame 3 of themachine. The group A comprises six combs numbered 4. to 9 which areprovided with slots to represent the fiveunit code, and are free toslide on the bedplate 1 lengthwise about th inch between rows ofguide-pins 10. Five of these combs represent the five-unit code, whilethe sixth comb 9 operates to produce the figure-shift.

The group B, located on the same bedplate parallel and closely adjacentto group A, consists of twelve combs provided with slots arranged forthe Morse-cable alphabet, the maximum number of signal elements percharacter in this alphabet being six arranged in two positions. Thereare approximately fifty-two characters used in the Morse code, while inthe five-unit code there are thirty-one, the additional charactersrequired for commercial use being obtained by a figure-shift. Usuallythis change is obtained by shifting the typewriter carriage or thetypebar basket or the typewheel, according to the style of printingmechanism. In the present invention I greatly simplify the machine byemploying a sixth comb 9 for the figure-shift, this comb being operatedby wedge levers controlled by the other five combs. These levers,indicated at 11 and 12, in Fig. 4 are provided with wedge-shaped endsadapted to engage the inclined sides of the outer slots in the bar 9when selected by the mechanism hereinafter described. Assuming thatwedge 11 is selected, the mechanism causes it to press down on theinclined side of the left outer slot of the comb-9, causing it to moveabout th 9f an inch to the left. In the same manner the wedge lever 12,when operated by the mechanism, causes the comb 9 to move about 'i gthof an inch to the right. The combs are really a group of permutationlocks, and this shifting of the sixth comb to the right or to the leftalters the selection so that permutations of signals representingfigures in the signal code will be recorded if the comb 9 moves in onedirection and letters if it moves in the other direction. In this way anadequate number of signals are obtained from the five-unit code tooperate the fifty-two or more Morse signal permutations in the twelvecombs of group B.

Resting just above and at right angles to the two sets of combs A and B,there are a series of crossbars 13 on the rod 14 and held up at theother end by a supporting bar 15 just clear of the combs. As thefive-unit combs are the controlling combs in the present case oftransportation from the five-unit code to the Morse-cable, they are madewith mes ages vertical teeth or slots suitably s aced as shown in Fig.4:, and the five com s a to 8 are free to moveto the right about th ofan inch under the action of springs (not shown) as soon as released by atripping pawl 16, Fig. 2, controlled by the armature 17 of a smallsetting magnet S. There are five of these trip awls 16 and five of thesesetting magnets arranged in a row beneath the combs in group A, only onebeing visible in Fig. 2. The pawls 16 may operate directly to thrust thecombs to the right. Mechanism of this kind is well-known in connectionwith printing telegraphs and it is therefore not necessary to describeit more in detail. The pawl 16 engages in a slot on the under side ofits comb, and when the pawl is pulleddown by its magnet S the comb isreleased and moves to the right under the action of its spring. Thefive-unit code signals are distributed by well-known means to one ormore of these five magnets. The combs are thus set into a certain permutation corresponding to the character signal transmitted, a particulargroup of slots in the combs being in this way alined so as to permit oneof the Crossbars 1:3 to fall into the alined group of slots as soon asthe supporting bar 15 drops down. it

the right moment the distributing mechanism (well-known and not formingpart of this invention and therefore not described} after operating onone or more of the five setting magnets S, sends an impulse into thetransposing magnet T, which controls the supporting bar 15. Thistransposing magnet T corresponds to the printing magnet in a printingtelegraph, but instead of operating to record the character on paper itrecords it as a transposed permutation in the Morse combs, group B inthe following manner:

The supporting bar 15 is provided with two downwardly projecting pillarsor arms 18, Fig. 2, which are pivoted on the rod 19. secured to theouter ends of two armature levers 20, Figs. 1 and 2. The levers 20 arefastened to a shaft 21, and carry the armature bar 22, The whole formsan armature frame pivoted in the bearings 23, 24:, and normally held inits upper retracted position against the back-stop 26 by a spring 25.

A universal bar 81, extends parallel to the bar 15 and is carried by twoarms 27 also pivoted on the rod 19. The arms 27 are provided with camprojections 28 which normally bear upon the upper inclined end of theback-stop 26.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: When the armature 22 isattracted by the magnet T the supporting bar 15 is drawn downwardly awayfrom the cross bars 31, and the latter are then pulled down upon the topof the combs by their springs 29. One cross-bar will drop slightly intothe alined slots in the comb group A, which were brought into alinementby the code signal transmitted to the magnets S, so that the tip of thebeveled or wedge-shaped endward the ends of the bars 30. The bar 81 isarranged to pass below the tips 30 of the cross-bars which are in theirnormal position but will engage any bar which has been depressed into agroup of alined slots. The forward edge of the bar 81 is cut, wedgeshape as shown and its sharp edge engages the beveled tip of thedepressed selected cross-bar and forces it to descend with the armatureframe. Each of the cross-bars 13 is provided with a sloping beveledportion 31, Figs. 2 and 3, extending over the comb group B and as theselected bar is pulled downwardly by the universal bar 81, the beveledportion 31 engages the wedgeshaped teeth 82 of certain bars and movesthem laterally to form the desired combination of the Morse character.The teeth of certain of the twelve group B combs are cut away in themanner indlcated in Fig. 3 to form the re uired Morse characterpermutation, so t at only the bar or bars whose movement will form theMorse character corresponding to the transmittedfiveunit character willhave teeth in the path of the depressed bar.

In this way the five-unit code signal is transposed into thecorresponjding cable- Morse signal representing the same character. Itremains now to record the Morse signal in such a form that it may beeither read or transmitted over another telegraph lineor into an oceancable. This may be effected by direct-transmitting mechanism, or by ametal pin or plate storage transmitter or by perforated paper tape. Inordinary commercial practise perforated tape is preferred for and thatform of registering mechanism is therefore described in connection withthis invention. The perforating mechanism may be any well-known form of.Morse keyboard perforator, but I prefer to simplify the arrangement bymaking the punch-block movable and the hammer fixed. That is to say, Iattach the punch-block 32, Fig. 1, with its group of punches 33 and thestarwheel 34 for feeding the paper. tape 39, to a long bellcrank lever35, pivoted at 36, Fig. 1, and operated by a punching magnet P, whichmay be conveniently of the solenoid type. the plunger 37 being connectedby the link 38 to the short arm of the bellcrank lever 35. I can use theends of the Morse-cable transmission,

selected Morse-cable combs, group B,,as the fixed hammer for forcing therequired punches 33 through the paper tape 39 in the punch block 32, butthe accepted dimensions of Morse-cable tape make the action rathercramped, and I therefore prefer to insert some intermediate levers'andlinks, which can be cranked to the required dimensions to come oppositethe punches. In this way more space is provided for the combs and theycan be made thicker (about th of an inch) and therefore more durable.

A system of intermediate levers and links for thls purpose is shown inFigs. 1, 2, 3, and 5. I do not confine myself to this particulararrangement, as many modifications may be introduced to secure the sameeffect. Referring to Fig. 3, two groups each of six bellcrank levers 40,41, are pivoted on rods 42, 43. One of these rods 43 is shown in itsbearings in Fig. 2. The short vertical arms of the levers 40, 41,,engage in slots in the under ed e of the Morse combs, and at the ends oft e long arms of the levers 40, 41,

are wire links 83, 84, connecting them to two other groups each of sixlevers 44, 45, pivoted at 46 and 47 to a fixed block 85. The cranking ofthese levers 40, 41, to bring them into line with the punches is showninFig. 5. It will be seen by inspection of the arrows in Fig. 3 thatslight movement of one or more of the Morse combs to the right willthrow one or more of the ends 48 49 of the twelve levers 44, 45 (sixabove and six below) into the path of the message-hole punches 33arranged in two rows in the punch-block 32. Consequently when thepunch-block, carried on the oscillating lever 35, is moved inward, thepunches. 33 are forced against the ends of such of the levers 44, 45, ashave been moved by the Morse combs (group B) into the path of theunches. In this way the punches, are

ing in the tape the required-permutation of message holes. I

unches and punch retracting springs may e of any well-known form,and-they are consequently not described or 'shownrhere in detail. ."f.

It is obvious that the punching operation must not take place until therequired Morse permutation has been set up in group B. Also as there isvery little time intervening between the reception of one group ofsignals and the next, it is desirable that the punching shall take placeimmediately'after the completion of the setting of the permutation ingroup B. The electrical and mechanical arrangements for this purpose areshown in Fig. 1, and diagrammatically in Fig. 2. Referring to thedlagram in Fig. 2, P is the punching magnet, in circuit with a battery52. The pair of contacts 53, 54 tend The punch-block and I to spring 0en, but they are arranged immediately a ove one of the armature framelevers 20, Figs. 1 and 2, Which holds the contacts closed. As soon asthe armature frame begins to descend under the attraction of magnet T,the contacts 53, 54 spring open, and prevent the operation of thepunching magnet. Further depression of the armature frame causes theinsulated stud 55 to press down the contact spring 56, closing thecontact with the spring 57. At the same time the pawl 58 catches the endof the sprin 56 and mainta'ns the contacts closed. hen the magnet isdeenergized and the armature frame is retracted, thereby closing thecontacts 53, 54, the punching magnet P is immediately energized andpunches the tape. When the punching magnet has nearly completed itsstroke and the lever 35, Fig. 1, has nearly reached its innermostposition, the lever 35 strikes one end of rod 59, carried in bearings60, 61, causing its opposite end to strike against the pawl 58 and throwit out of engagement with the contact spring 56, thereby opening thepunching magfpet c1rcuit and dee'nergizing the magnet The contacts 53,54 are not absolutely necessary, but they prevent any risk of thefive-unit comb restoring mechanism, presently to be described, startingto operate before the selected crossbar 13 is clear of the slots in thecombs.

In addition to being perforated, the paper tape must be fed forwarddifferentially, that is to say, it must move forward different distancescorresponding to the different lengths of the Morse-cable letters,varying from one to six units or feed-holes. This is effected by asystem of links and compound levers shown in Fig. 1. The toothed wheel34, which may conveniently have thirty-six teeth as shown, is carried ona vertical spindle 62, and below-the toothed wheel on the same spindleis a ratchet wheel (not shown) also provided with-thirty-six teeth. Afeed pawl 63 pivoted at 98 on the end of the oscillating arm 64 engageswith the ratchet wheel and rests normally against the stop-pin 65, whichlimits the motion and prevents overfeed of the toothed wheel. The papertape 39 is shown passing around the toothed wheel 34, through the tapeguide 97, and the punchblock 32 and out of the machine at 66. Assumingthat there is only one unit in the Morse signal, for instance the letterE or T,

then only one or other of the first pair of levers 44, 45 will be movedinto the path of the punches. This first pair of levers is indicated inFig. 1 by 44, and the sixth by 44. When the lever 35 moves inward underthe action of the magnet P, it forces to the left the link 67 connectingthe end of the lever 35 and the short arm of the bellcrank lever 68, thelatter being pivoted at 69 on the post 96 of the frame 3. The link 67forces the long arm of the lever 68 inward, the latter carrying thelever 70 which is centrally pivoted at 71 and connected at one end bythe link 72 to the end of the arm 64 carrying the pawl 63. This link andthe pawl 63 and the arm 64 are retracted to their position of rest bythe spring 73. Pivoted at 74 on the other end of the lever 70 is adifferential rod 75 carried in guides (not shown) and sliding betweenthe two sets of levers 44, 45. This rod 75 shown in end view in Fig. 3,carries a tooth or projecting block 76 above and a corresponding block77 below. One or other of these two blocks 76, 77, engages with the sideof any one of the pairs of levers 44, 45, which may have been thrown bythe Morse combs into the path of the punches. If there is only one-unitin the character, such as E or T, then only one or other of the firstpair of levers 44, Fig. 1, will be in the path of the punches and alsoin the path of the differential rod 75. If the Morse signal represents along character of six units, then all six of the pairs of levers 44, 45will be brought into the path of the punches and of the rod 75. In thatcase the rod 75 by means of its projecting blocks 76, 77, will bestopped by one or the other of the pair 44*, Fig. 1, and so also withcharacters of intermediate length. The rod 75 will therefore stop in sixdifferent positions in accordance with the length of the characters andwill have a maximum motion for a short character like E or T and aminimum motion for a long character, such for instance as the hyphen.Inspection of Fig. 1 will show that this results in a minimum motion forthe pawl 63 for a short character of one unit, and a maximum motion ofthe pawl 63 for a long character of six units. The stroke of the pawl isalso arranged to feed one more unit or tooth of the ratchet wheel thanthe number of units in the character in order to provide for the spacebetween characters. The action is as follows: On the inward stroke ofthe lever 35, the link 67 causes the bellcrank lever 68 to move its longarm inward, carrying the lever 70 inward. The spring 73 maintains thelink 72 and the pawl 63 in their position of rest until the differentialrod 75 is stopped by one of the six pairs of levers 44 to 44. Whenthisoccurs the further movement of the link 72 extends the spring 73 andcarries the pawl 63 rearwardly over the corresponding number of teeth ofthe ratchet wheel. The tape having been punched, and the circuit ofmagnet broken at contacts 56, 57, the lever 35 is retracted by the largespring 78 to its position of rest against the leather buffer 80 on thebackstop plate 79 and at the same time spring 7 3 pulls up the pawl 63to its position of rest against the stop 65, thereby rotating thetoothed wheel tape along for a distance corresponding to the characterperforated.

In order to prevent the feeding of the tape before the punches have beenwithdrawn, .a certain amount of lost motion must be provided in the linkmechanism, as for instance, at the pivot '98 in the link 72.

orse tape perforators are well-known, however, and details are thereforeomitted. The punches 33 are provided with retractile springs to holdthem normally out of the paper slot as usual. If the tape passes aroundthe toothed-wheel before entering the punch-block as shown in Fig. 1, itmust be perforated beforehand with a central row of feed-holes; but ifit is preferred to use plain unprepared tape, the toothed-wheel shouldthen be placed on the other side of the punch-block so as to pull thetape through the punch-block as illustrated in Fig. 10. The link 72 isthen made longer, but the action remains the same. Also a central row offeed-hole punches has to be provided in the punch-block as shown at inFi 3. These punches are forced throug the pa er by the permanently fixedhammer 51. rovision must also be made for a certain amount of lostmotion to prevent the tape feed wheel 34 from starting before thepunches are withdrawn from the paper. This may be accomplished byelongating the' slot at the pivot 102, Fig. 10, to allow aboutone-sixteenth of an inch of lost motion and providing a spring 100 tohold the bell-crank arm 68 against the back-stop 101 until'the lever 35has been moved on the back stroke by the spring 78, the slight distanceequal to said lost motion, thereby permitting the punches 33 to beretracted. It is immaterial, therefore, as far as this invention isconcerned, whether prepared or unprepared tape is employed.

In order to restore the two groups of combs A and B to zero positionready for the next character to be transposed, the devices shown inFigs. 6, 7 8 and 9 are empioyed, the mechanism for restoring the orsecombs B being omitted from 'ig. 1 for the sake of clearness. The devicefor restoring the combs in group A is shown in F i 1 as well as in Figs.6, 9 and 10.

he combs in group A have to be reset as soon as possible to permit thesetting up of the next character while the last character is beinperforated, and must therefore, be restored to zero position first. Forthis purpose a stud 86 on the lever'35 on the forward stroke strikes therod 87 which asses through the guide-block 88 and carries at its innerend a flat plate 89. This strikes and throws back the five combs 4 to 8of.

group A, but it does not touch the sixth comb 9, as this fi re-shiftcomb is controlled exclusively y the figure and letter around andfeeding the shift levers 11 and 12 operated by the group of five combs 4to 8.

Such of the cable-Morse combs, group B, as have been shifted arerestored to zero position on the back-stroke of the lever 35 moving toits position of rest; On the forward motion of lever 35 a wedge-sha edtooth 90 strikes .a small oscillating mem r 91, Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10,pivoted at 95 on the end of the lever arm 92, which tilts and allowstooth 90 to pass. The lever 92 carrying the tilting member 91 is securedto a rock-shaft 93 which carries a push-arm 94 of sufficient breadth toextend across the ends of all the Morse combs. On the rearward movementof lever 35, to its position of rest, the tooth 90 engages with themember 91, which in this case can not tilt, and the cam action of theinclined tooth 90, lifts the member 91 and the lever 92, thereby rockingshaft 93 and causing the arm 94 to push such of the combs of grou B aswere previously moved to the ri ht, ack to their zero position on theleft. his results in the Morse combs in roup B being restored to zeroposition aEter their work has been done and after the restoration tozero of the combs in group A.

In the case of printing telegraphs such as the Murray multiplex,employing the fiveunit code (or other code in which the letter signalsare of equal duration), correcting mechanism is provided for invisiblecorrection of errors by punching five holes in the tape in place of eacherroneous character. The five hole group in the tape leaves the printingmechanism idle. Hence there is no visible indication of the correctionin the printed message, not even a space. This is a valuable feature,but it results in loss of time in proportion to the number ofcorrections made. This is of no importance on land lines where thepossible speed is far above requirements, but it is desirable on oceancables to avoid any loss of line time. I arrange for this by providingthat on the arrival of a five-hole signal (five marking units) thecrossbar selected 1n the transposer by this signal, upon bein depressedshall meet no teeth in the cableorse combs. Hence the cable-Morse combsare not moved and the punching and tape feeding act-ion does not takeplace. Accordingly, perfectly clean cable-Morse tape is preparedautomatically by the transposing machine even though the arrivingmessage in the five-unit alphabet may contain many corrections. In thesame way, in the case of transposition from five-unit to cable-Morsethere is no need for figure and letter shift signals and no need for newline si ls. They are accordingly omitted by cuttlng out the teeth thatwould represent them in the cable- Morse combs.

Instead of perforating a tape, the transposing machine may record thetransposed signals in any other convenient way, such for instance asopening or closing electrical contacts by the motion of the combs. Thishe particularly applicable in the case of two erent arrangements of thefive-unit code plex. For example the Murray and Western Union five-unitpermutation for E is the same as that for the Baudot A. This involves abreach of continuity in cases Where these two different arrangements ofthe fiveunit code come into connection with each other. The presentinvention overcomes this difliculty. For this purpose, assuming that theMurray or Western Union arrangement has to be transposed into the Baudotarrangement of the five-unit code, so that there are two groups of five5-unit combs, one in group A being slotted in accordance with the Murrayand Western Union arrangement and the other in group B being slotted inaccordance with the Baudot arrangement, the slots in group B beingwedge-shaped, as already described. In this case five combs aresufficient and there is no need for the sixth figure-shift combmechanism shown in Fig. 6, norfor the paper perforating mechanism, orthe intermediate link mechanism shown in Fig. 3. Likewise onlythirty-one crossbars 13 are required instead of about fifty-two. Thecombs in group B that have been moved by a transposition, close or openone or more of a corresponding group of five electrical contacts, andthis group of signals recorded in the group of electrical contacts isswept by the distributer in the normal way either into the telegraphline for retransmission or into a Baudot printer. Transmittinggroups offive electrical contacts are wellknown devices in five-unit multiplexapparatus, and it is therefore not necessary to describe them. Thetransposer in this case is of a very compact and simple character, theonly substantial diiference being in the mechanism for recording orretransmitting the transposed signals. The recording mechanism, as Thave already pointed out, may be of any form convenient for the purposefor which the invention is required. it is to be noted that in a case ofthis kind where the number of crossbars is comparatively small, thecombs in group B may be set by the action of the crossbar springs 29,these springs being strengthened sufiiciently to perform the work. Theuniversal bar 81 can then be dispensed with and the magnet T simplylowers and raises the supporting neeaeae bar 15. Itiis possible also aswill be evident as to lower and ralsethe supporting bar 15 bytoggle-joint supports operated. by the magnet T, the crossbar springs 29then being strengthened and performing the transposing work even in thecase of a considerable number of crossbars. I have-illustrated anddescribed the preferred method of operating the cross bars in cases inwhich a considerable number of crossbars have to be operated, but I donot confine myself to that particular mechanical device.

In the case of a transposer operating from Morse into five-unit code,the fiveunit combs and the sixthor figure comb change places with theMorse combs, becoming group B, while the Morse combs become group A. Thefive-unit combs then become saw-toothed and the Morse combs havevertical teeth.

Having now fully disclosed my invention and in What manner it may becarried out, I declare that what I claim is 1. Apparatus for transposingsignals from one telegraph code into another, comprising a group ofselecting devices representing one telegraph code, a second group ofjuxtaposed selectin devices representing another telegraph co e, andmeans for operating upon the second group under the mechanical controlof the first group, so as to transpose a signal from the first groupinto the second group.

2. Apparatus for transposing signals as set forth in claim 1, incombination with means for recording the result of the transposition.

3. Apparatus fortransposingsignals from one telegraph code into another,comprising a group of combs representing one telegraph code, a secondgroup of combs representing another telegraph code, said groups beinglocated side by side with the combs in parallel arrangement, a set ofcross-bars common to said two groups and selectableunder the control ofthe first group, and means for operating the cross-bar selected by anygiven signal to thereby transpose the signal rom the first group intothe second group.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in combination with means forrecording the result of the transposition.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, and a power-driven universalbar adapted to forcibly depress the selected cross-bar and cause thelatter to set the combs in the second group into the desired transposedsignal permutation.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in which the cross-bars areprovided with wedge-shaped engaging faces, in combina tion with anelectro-magneticall actuated universal bar adapted to forcib y depressthe selected cross-bar and cause the latter to the form of holes in thetape.

8. Apparatus for transposing signals from one telegraph code intoanother, comprising a group of combs having teeth arranged to representone telegraph code, a second group of combs having teeth arranged torepresent another telegraph code, the groups being juxtaposed inparallel arrangement, a set of cross-bars common to the two groups andselectable under the control of the first group, a power-drivenuniversal bar adapted to forcibly depress the selected cross-bar andcause it to set the combs in the second group into the desiredtransposed signal permutation, a tape perforating mechanism forrecording the result of said transposition, a punch block having punchesfor perforatin the tape, a movable supportca ing sai punch-block andadapted to orce the punches against projecting elements corresponding tosaid second set of combs.

9. Apparatus for transposing signals from. a telegraph code with signalsof equal length intoa telegraph code having signals of va ing length,comprising a group of com s representing the code with signals of equallength, a second'grou of combs representing a code withsign s of varyinglength, a I

set of cross-bars common to the two groups and selectable under thecontrol of the-first group of combs, a universal bar operable toforcibly depress the selected cross-bar to thereby set the combs in thesecond group into the desired transposed signal permutation, a tapeperforating mechanism for recording the result of said transposition inthe form of perforations representing signals of var ing length, anddifferential mechanism or feeding the tape forward varyinglengths'corresponding with the varying lengths of the signals.

10. Apparatus for transposing signals from one telegraph code intoanother, comprising a group of cross-bars, a group of combs adapted toselect any one of said 1group of cross-bars, a second group of combsaving wedge-shaped teeth adapted to cooperate with the selectedcross-bar when the latter is operated to force the combs engaged therebyinto the desired signal permutation. 11. Apparatus for transposingsignals as setforth in'claim 1, in combination with means for preventingthe actuation of devices in the second group upon the formation of acertain signal in the first group to thereby eliminate corrections orunnecessary signals existing in the original series of signals.

12. Apparatus for thetransposition of signals from one telegraph codeintoanother,

- comprising (groups of combs representing respectively ife-renttelegraph codes, and a figure-shift comb in one group adapted to beoperated under the control of the other combs of the same group.

In testimony whereof aflix m sinatura DONALD MllR AY.

